The 'Top 2' primary election bill has a poison pill in it. Our legislators tonight have changed just three words that will allow the Republican and Democratic party bosses to successfully challenge the law should Gov. Locke sign the bill. Ahh - but the legislators have worded the bill so Locke can veto parts of the bill and allow the Montana primary to take effect even before a political party lawsuit. A poison pill. I'm watching them live on ch. 23 right now.

Your elected legislators are congratulating themselves right now on their crafting a bill that can be dismantled by the governor and then defeated by the political parties. They are openly stating these two possibilities. The have crafted a primary process that the party bosses want and wrapped it in 'Top 2' decorated paper that can be torn off and thrown away. I could be wrong - but that is what it looks like to me.

The Senate has passed the bill 36 to 12. Brandland voted for and Spanel voted against the bill. Both of them know their votes are a sham and the bill caters to the political parties. It now goes to Gov. Locke. Expect a partial veto.

8:00 am
The State Legislature is very silent on the fate of SB6453, the Primary Election bill. See below for prologue. Nothing in today's Bham Herald. The Seattle Times tells how the House worded the subsection allowing a Montana-style primary to allow Gov. Locke to veto the good primary process and allow the undemocratic election - one that allows the two political party bosses to control our elections. How cute.

The legislative website gives no information for events yesterday, nor any agenda for today. I haven't the time this morning to make the usual phone calls to staffers in Olympia to learn the off-the-record information. That is right. Last time I used a staffer's name she caught hell. Not supposed to tell us citizens what is happening.

What is happening? We are paying through our taxes for political party bosses to meet behind closed doors in our government buildings with our elected representatives to hack out a law that will deprive us of our democracy. Spanel, Linville - you can bet your bleeding-heart liberals are shoulder to shoulder with right-wingers Ericksen and Brandland to work out a bill that gets them off the hook and allows the political parties to prevail.

Tomorrow the legislature is scheduled to adjourn. The bill - in some form - will go to Gov. Locke. He threatens to veto any democracy-based primary election sections. He will leave the sections creating primaries controlled by the political parties. He is in the pocket of the of the political bosses.

What is our hope? The fear that our representatives have of us voters next November if they do not give us the 'Top 2' primary process. I urge you to phone your representative this morning and express your support for democracy and the 'Top 2' primary election process. Even 3 or 4 phone calls generated from this website will have a positive effect.